Coma (1978)

When a young female doctor notices an unnatural amount of comas occurring in her hospital she uncovers a horrible conspiracy.

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writers:

Michael Crichton (screenplay), Robin Cook (novel)

Stars:

Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geneviève Bujold	...	Dr. Susan Wheeler (as Genevieve Bujold)
Michael Douglas	...	Dr. Mark Bellows
Elizabeth Ashley	...	Mrs. Emerson
Rip Torn	...	Dr. George
Richard Widmark	...	Dr. Harris
Lois Chiles	...	Nancy Greenly
Hari Rhodes	...	Dr. Morelind (as Harry Rhodes)
Gary Barton	...	Computer Technician
Frank Downing	...	Kelly
Richard Doyle	...	Jim
Alan Haufrect	...	Dr. Marcus
Lance LeGault	...	Vince (as Lance Le Gault)
Michael MacRae	...	Chief Resident
Betty McGuire	...	Nurse
Tom Selleck	...	Sean Murphy

Storyline

A young woman doctor discovers something sinister going on in her hospital. Relatively healthy patients are having 'complications' during simple operations and ending up in comas. The patients are then shipped off to an institute that looks after them. The young doctor suspects there is more to this than meets the eye.

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Plot Keywords:

coma | doctor | surgery | hospital | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

Imagine your life hangs by a thread. Imagine your body hangs by a wire. Imagine you're not imagining.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Koma

Filming Locations:

Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 1,272,484 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 104 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview with 'Millimeter' magazine, this film's director Michael Crichton said: "This is a story that contains many elements of reality: the fear people have of surgery, the fear of dying at the hands of your doctor, phobias about hospitals. Those are very real fears, and so to exaggerate them would not be much fun. My idea was to put the picture together in such a way that the fears are put in a safe prospective, and can be enjoyed as scares, without awakening deeper and more real anxieties."

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Goofs

When Mark puts Dr. Wheeler to bed after the chase at the Anatomy Lab, the bed covers change between when she lays down and when she leaves moments later.

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Quotes

Dr. Susan Wheeler: You did it.
[Put people in irreversible comas]
Dr. George A. Harris: No decision is easy, Sue. It only looks that way when you're young. When you're older, everything is complicated. There is no black and white, only gray.

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Connections

Version of Coma (2012)

User Reviews

Realistic and frightening Look at what could go wrong on the operating table!

Coma was a really fun film. I liked it to pieces. It opens with a really intriguing shot of a gorgeous Genevieve Bujold driving to her work as a Dr. Wheeler, and listening to the radio on a beautiful crisp Boston morning. A film like this has the audience attention from that grab. Exposition ensues and so does a bit of crazy character development. Then, something else happens, ,a major death takes place and a real intrigue seeks in. Then, the revelation is that a crisis is concerning certain patients. Not for those who are queasy in hospitals. This film, about patients slipping one by one into a coma for no apparent reason still has enough affect to chill every one of it's audience members to the bone! All the stars are at their best with a script that-while has some of its unoticable flaws- keeps the audience in the roots of fear as they root for the lead female. Great Jerry Goldsmith score as well. Great photography and direction from Crighton. a cool film!